“You Shall Not Murder” (Exodus 20:13)

What this episode covers

The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Murder In such polarizing times it is difficult to maintain a godly posture towards those we disagree with. We are quick to allow our political allegiances to determine how we think about and treat others. If we follow the attitudes of many of our favorite radio and cable tv pundits, we may find ourselves not only in fundamental disagreement with our opponents, but we will begin to despise everything about them. What is most discouraging to me is the fact that this polarizing attitude has entered into the church across the nation, and likely around the world. There is not a pastor I know who is not dealing with various levels of tension within their context. In some cases it has impacted the leadership. In other cases it has put the congregation at odds with the leadership. In almost every case, it has led to some kind of division. Several people become so offended that they no longer see any possibility for unity, and they leave the church. I’m convinced that much of this division has been caused by the elevation of our commitments to secondary and tertiary matters. If those matters have become more important to us than our primary purpose, we should repent. I would also acknowledge that there are cases where the division was over a matter of first importance. Sometimes division is inevitable, but we should all seek to maintain the unity of the church as a witness of our love for Christ and his bride. Where discord exists, we should defer personal preferences for the sake of others, and ensure that our convictions are grounded in Scripture. That doesn’t eliminate all tension, but it should lead to much greater unity. Now, what does this have to do with the sixth commandment? God desires unity among his covenant people so much, that He forbids anyone from eliminating their personal opponents in thought, word, or deed. This is a practical issue that must begin with our understanding of Scripture before it involves any political or social position regarding our present crisis. Opinions about the appropriate response to the coronavirus will differ across every sphere of society, but we must not allow those differences to destroy the covenantal relationships that God has established. I realize most people are not resorting to hatred and physical violence, and I don’t know of anyone who has been murdered over a disagreement about the coronavirus. But many relationships have been severed. And what boils underneath those outward divisions is oftentimes a heart that has already violated the sixth commandment in word and thought. It can be helpful to speak in terms of the extremes in order to build camaraderie around the essentials. God, through the leadership of Moses, has led the Israelites out of bondage to Egypt. They are now free to worship God and live according to His standards. But, they don’t make it very far before some restrictions of conduct are spelled out for them. Yes, they have freedom, but their freedom does not give them license to sin. Every commandment that is included in this list has implications that carry well beyond the substance of the content themselves. That becomes abundantly clear in the sixth commandment. The first four commandments deal primarily with how we are to show love for God. And the latter six commandments deal primarily with how we are to show love for our neighbor. The fifth commandment dealt with honoring our parents, and by implication we honor all other authorities God has placed over us. The sixth commandment prohibits murder, and by implication it prohibits any hatred of others including our enemies. The biblical principle that takes into account passages of application from all of Scripture is this: No human may take the life of another human whether physically or psychologically. As always, there are exceptions to the rule that we will consider, but the basic principle is that the sixth commandment forbids murder, and that in

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